David J. L. Luck
The Rockefeller University
January 7, 1929 - May 23, 1998
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Scientific Discipline: Cellular and Developmental Biology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1984)
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David J.L. Luck conducted groundbreaking research on the molecular biology of the mitochondria. He found that the mitochondria divides and grows by adding new additions to an existing framework. With his colleague Edward Reich, he discovered mitochondrial DNA divides via DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and its’ inheritance is strictly maternal. Through further studies he found mitochondrial ribosomes have a different composition than cytoplasmic ribosomes because they were the gene product of mitochondrial DNA. In addition, he studied the synthesis and assembly of cellular structures within the flagella, which propels the cell.
Luck graduated from the University of Chicago in 1949, earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1953, and received his PhD from Rockefeller Institute in 1962. After completing his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1955 he served in the USAF Medical Service as a captain. In 1964 joined the staff at Rockefeller University as a research associate and professor. From 1972 to 1976 he was chairman of the Molecular Biology Study Section at the National Institutes of Health.
